--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had never heard anyone play like Benny…" description: "\"I had never heard anyone play like Benny Goodman and had never seen anyone like him on the stage. I realize now that what impressed me and stayed with ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marian-seldes-19701_goodman_i-had-never-heard-anyone-play-like-benny_1520844.png" --- # I had never heard anyone play like Benny Goodman and had… ![“I had never heard anyone play like Benny Goodman and had never seen anyone like him on the stage. I realize now that what impressed me and stayed with me in memory was - the sounds he made. He played so purely. The music seemed to come from him, not just the instrument he played with such mastery.” quote by Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marian-seldes-19701_goodman_i-had-never-heard-anyone-play-like-benny_1520844.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marian-seldes-19701_goodman_i-had-never-heard-anyone-play-like-benny_1520844.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marian-seldes-19701_goodman_i-had-never-heard-anyone-play-like-benny_1520844.png) > “I had never heard anyone play like Benny Goodman and had never seen anyone like him on the stage. I realize now that what impressed me and stayed with me in memory was - the sounds he made. He played so purely. The music seemed to come from him, not just the instrument he played with such mastery.” [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Benny Goodman's pure, masterful sound created music that seemed to emanate from his being, not just his instrument. **In simple terms:** Goodman's music felt like an extension of himself. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity in artistic expression. Themes music performance authenticity artistry Mood inspired reflective Type artistic musical When to use this quote - concert reviews - music education - artist biographies - performance workshops Key Concepts musical purity personal expression mastery Questions to Reflect On - How does an artist’s inner voice shape their work? - What makes a performance feel authentic? A Different Perspective Technical skill alone may not convey true artistry. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benny Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benny-goodman-459168/) [Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodman/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [Impressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressed/) [Instrument Played](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instrument-played-286386/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Like Benny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-benny-3915737/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mastery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mastery/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Played Purely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played-purely-5620548/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Sounds Played](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sounds-played-5620547/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [ Benny \[Goodman\] used to practice 15 times more than the whole band combined. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-james/benny-goodman-used-to-practice-15-times-more-than-the-whole-band/) [Harry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-james/) > [The brilliant explosion known as Benny Goodman went off in 1935, and it hasn´t gone out yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-balliett/the-brilliant-explosion-known-as-benny-goodman-went-off-in-1935-and/) [Whitney Balliett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-balliett/) > [ Above all else, \[Benny Goodman\] was a great player, one of the greatest American music has produced. He brought his absolute talent and his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-crouch/above-all-else-benny-goodman-was-a-great-player-one-of-the-greatest/) [Stanley Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-crouch/) > [Since the advent of Benny Goodman, there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is most certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-torme/since-the-advent-of-benny-goodman-there-have-been-too-few/) [Mel Torme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-torme/) > [Benny Goodman plays the clarinet. I play music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/artie-shaw/benny-goodman-plays-the-clarinet-i-play-music/) [Artie Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/artie-shaw/) > [When I first met Benny Goodman he wouldn't talk about anything but clarinets, mouthpieces, reeds, etc. When I tried to change the subject, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/artie-shaw/when-i-first-met-benny-goodman-he-wouldn-t-talk-about-anything-but/) [Artie Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/artie-shaw/) > [ The distance between me and Benny \[Goodman\], was that I was trying to play a musical thing, and Benny was trying to swing. Benny… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/artie-shaw/the-distance-between-me-and-benny-goodman-was-that-i-was-trying-to/) [Artie Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/artie-shaw/) > [When I grow up I want to be just like Benny Carter!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dizzy-gillespie/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-just-like-benny-carter/) [Dizzy Gillespie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dizzy-gillespie/) > [The accordion was the first instrument I played, when I was 7 years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-feliciano/the-accordion-was-the-first-instrument-i-played-when-i-was-7-years-old/) [Jose Feliciano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-feliciano/) > [Learning to play old instruments was a challenge. How do you learn an instrument no one has played in hundreds of years? The ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/einar-selvik/learning-to-play-old-instruments-was-a-challenge-how-do-you-learn-an/) [Einar Selvik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/einar-selvik/) > [Kenny G, I have to be grateful to him for proving that the instrument can be played all different kinds of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-lacy/kenny-g-i-have-to-be-grateful-to-him-for-proving-that-the-instrument/) [Steve Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-lacy/) > [Benny Goodman was one of the big influences as a clarinet player. That's why I wanted the clarinet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-konitz/benny-goodman-was-one-of-the-big-influences-as-a-clarinet-player-that/) [Lee Konitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-konitz/) > [I started off playing the clarinet, after I was inspired by listening to my dad's Benny Goodman records.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-lee/i-started-off-playing-the-clarinet-after-i-was-inspired-by-listening/) [Alvin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-lee/) > [Everybody in Germany was for the -German cause. But then, after the war ended, when I heard the first Glenn Miller sound on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-colani/everybody-in-germany-was-for-the-german-cause-but-then-after-the-war/) [Luigi Colani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-colani/) > [My dad had these great Benny Goodman albums that I was obsessed with, and Louis Prima's another guy I loved, and Peter Niro the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/my-dad-had-these-great-benny-goodman-albums-that-i-was-obsessed-with/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) ## More by Marian Seldes > [I know I'm funny, because I'm eccentric, I'm odd. I'm not what you expect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/i-know-i-m-funny-because-i-m-eccentric-i-m-odd-i-m-not-what-you-expect/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [How do people who live utterly alone survive? There are so many things that won't open. I've got a few dresses in New York,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/how-do-people-who-live-utterly-alone-survive-there-are-so-many-things/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [I would hate to think of the theatre world without critics. Without them, we'd not have the record of each season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/i-would-hate-to-think-of-the-theatre-world-without-critics-without/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [Confidence has nothing to do with what you look like. If you obsess over that, you'll end up being disappointed in yourself all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/confidence-has-nothing-to-do-with-what-you-look-like-if-you-obsess/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [If you're unhappy in a relationship, I think you just don't trust yourself for getting into another one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/if-you-re-unhappy-in-a-relationship-i-think-you-just-don-t-trust/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [I think of myself as only being an actress when I'm acting, but my friends will say I act all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/i-think-of-myself-as-only-being-an-actress-when-i-m-acting-but-my/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [Own the room. Confidence has nothing to do with what you look like. If you obsess over that, you'll end up being disappointed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/own-the-room-confidence-has-nothing-to-do-with-what-you-look-like-if/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [My grandmother always used to say, "If you know your past and you know where you have to go, why do you rehearse?" I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/my-grandmother-always-used-to-say-if-you-know-your-past-and-you-know/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [I almost never go to the theatre without seeing someone I've taught or known at Juilliard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/i-almost-never-go-to-the-theatre-without-seeing-someone-i-ve-taught/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [If I had a religious belief, I would want it to be as strong as my belief in the theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/if-i-had-a-religious-belief-i-would-want-it-to-be-as-strong-as-my/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [When I began to act, I was about 6 years old. Everything you learned, every period of history you studied, you did a play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/when-i-began-to-act-i-was-about-6-years-old-everything-you-learned/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [I think the first time I was ever really conscious of the difference between people's voices was that my mother's voice was so soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/i-think-the-first-time-i-was-ever-really-conscious-of-the-difference/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [People say, 'How can you stay in a play for a long time?' I say, 'The audience is never the same.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/people-say-how-can-you-stay-in-a-play-for-a-long-time-i-say-the/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [An actress spends a lifetime observing people. You build up a mental library. No, not a library. Make that a repository.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/an-actress-spends-a-lifetime-observing-people-you-build-up-a-mental/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) > [In Milly Barranger, Margaret Webster has found the perfect biographer. In Margaret Webster, Milly Barranger has found her perfect subject. She brings to vivid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-seldes/in-milly-barranger-margaret-webster-has-found-the-perfect-biographer/) [Marian Seldes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) [Explore all 32 Marian Seldes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-seldes/) ## More Goodman quotes > [My real name's McGill. The Jew thing I just do for the homeboys. They all want a pipe-hitting member of the tribe, so to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul/my-real-name-s-mcgill-the-jew-thing-i-just-do-for-the-homeboys-they/) [Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul/) > [I was in love with Tina Goodman since I was three and her parents came popping out of the trash cans. I think it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-kilmer/i-was-in-love-with-tina-goodman-since-i-was-three-and-her-parents/) [Val Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-kilmer/) > [ There's been so many, I think \[Lucas Goodman and I\] share this, but for us, Afropunk was a really big moment just because it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-hervey/there-s-been-so-many-i-think-lucas-goodman-and-i-share-this-but-for/) [Jillian Hervey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-hervey/) > [“A grave and dark-clad company," quoth Goodman Brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/a-grave-and-dark-clad-company-quoth-goodman-brown/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [I could turn on my radio in the morning when I was getting dressed for school and hear Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-could-turn-on-my-radio-in-the-morning-when-i-was-getting-dressed/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [Any page by Paul Goodman will give you not only originality and brilliance but wisdom, that is, something to think about. He is our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayden-carruth/any-page-by-paul-goodman-will-give-you-not-only-originality-and/) [Hayden Carruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayden-carruth/) > [I went to the theater school at DePaul University in Chicago, the Goodman School.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-gunn/i-went-to-the-theater-school-at-depaul-university-in-chicago-the/) [Sean Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-gunn/) > [I have shareholders. You haven't even got... cupholders! -White Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodgeball/i-have-shareholders-you-haven-t-even-got-cupholders-white-goodman/) [Dodgeball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodgeball/) > [ \[Goodman\] became famous (or notorious) for staring at a player he didn't like. It was called 'the ray' by his men. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-wilson/goodman-became-famous-or-notorious-for-staring-at-a-player-he-didn-t/) [Teddy Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-wilson/) > [Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everythingin every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/literature-is-the-one-place-in-any-society-where-within-the-secrecy-2/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a Gemini and Lucas Goodman is a Leo, so we definitely wanted some duality. We definitely balance each other out in a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-hervey/i-m-a-gemini-and-lucas-goodman-is-a-leo-so-we-definitely-wanted-some/) [Jillian Hervey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-hervey/) > [“Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the Boston Globe, said that for researchers, “the turnover was expected to be great because women didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-povich/ellen-goodman-the-pulitzer-prize-winning-columnist-for-the-boston/) [Lynn Povich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-povich/) > [ Above all else, \[Benny Goodman\] was a great player, one of the greatest American music has produced. He brought his absolute talent and his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-crouch/above-all-else-benny-goodman-was-a-great-player-one-of-the-greatest/) [Stanley Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-crouch/) > [Benny Goodman's band was integrated before baseball. Even before it was physically integrated, music was integrated. Everyone listened to Armstrong and Ellington. The 20s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/benny-goodman-s-band-was-integrated-before-baseball-even-before-it/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [Since the advent of Benny Goodman, there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is most certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-torme/since-the-advent-of-benny-goodman-there-have-been-too-few/) [Mel Torme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-torme/) [Browse all 57 Goodman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had never heard anyone play like Benny Goodman and had never seen anyone like him on the stage. I realize now that what impressed me and stayed with me in memory was - the sounds he made. He played so purely. 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